UFC Fight Night 79: Benson Henderson plans to 'test' MMA free agency, but set on 'retiring with UFC for sure'

Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans were treated to a thrilling, five-round main event atop the inaugural UFC Fight Night 79 card inside Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul, South Korea this morning (Sat., Nov. 28, 2015) as Benson Henderson defeated Jorge Masvidal via split-decision.

View the main event full-fight recap here.

Each man was looking to continue climbing the welterweight ladder in a quest to reestablish themselves in a bigger weight class after capturing success competing in the lightweight division for the last few years.

"Smooth" set the pace early with accurate leg strikes to the body and legs of "Gamebred," who returned fire with hard body kicks of his own. Henderson had great success early landing a beautiful one-two combination on Masvidal, before dropping him, while the latter was off balance, later in round one.

The American Top Team (ATT) product Masvidal wouldn't back down and continued pushing forward, controlling Henderson for brief periods in the second and third rounds, while landing more body kicks. However, it was "Bendo," through his use of the clinch and short strikes, who pulled out the contested win.

The ex-UFC lightweight king might've kept things status quo initially, but caused quite a stir on social media for the way he took off his gloves right away, placing them down on the canvas, as well as his comments directed towards the camera in his post-fight interview with Kenny Florian.

A possible jab at the potentially returning Georges St. Pierre? We might never know.

Fortunately enough, Henderson cleared his post-fight actions up, courtesy of MMAjunkie.

"When I retire, it will be retiring in the UFC - I know that for sure, but I'm going to test the market, yes," Henderson said, adding. "I'm not trying to send any message of any type, but if it plays out a certain way, I want to have some pretty good memories to go out on."

It was made known prior to UFC Fight Night 79 that Henderson could potentially be making his final walk to the Octagon as his jaunt with Masvidal was the last one on his contract.

With his second win in a new weight class, over a well-known combatant and ex-Strikeforce lightweight title challenger like Masvidal, the 32-year-old has made himself a viable free agent on the open market.

MMAmania.com will bring you any updates regarding Henderson's contract status in the coming days, but for now catch up on UFC Fight Night 79 results, which you can view by clicking here.